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National NewsConservative News
Boy Scout Scandal Hits Home
By Brad Taylor
Posted on: January 26, 2005
The Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council has recently been the target of an FBI investigation to determine if the council falsely inflated membership numbers in order to receive funding. Several events led up to this revelation, including attacks from homosexual activists.
Having grown up in Alabama, I was a Boy Scout under the Tennessee Valley Council, part of the Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council. While I never excelled in the program in terms of rank, I greatly enjoyed all of our activities and rarely missed a camping trip or troop hike. I have fond memories of my scouting experience. Thus, it pains me to see the program embroiled in this most sordid scandal.
The scandal is a result of Boy Scout volunteers raising issues with how the membership figures are being reported by the central office. Tom Willis, a boy scout volunteer, stated that it appeared someone was listing false members to boost enrollment, because 20 scouts on the membership list all had the last name of Doe. Willis, a dentist from Decatur, Alabama, also serves on the Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council.
Another longtime volunteer stated that the problem is with a few people in the Birmingham central office, not with the volunteers who lead scouting activities.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the Boy Scout Council's audits, grant applications, and tax forms since 1999. News reports state the FBI is investigating because the membership numbers are used to apply for federal grants and for United Way funding.
Trouble has been brewing for the Boy Scouts, ever since they took a stand against allowing homosexual scout leaders a few years ago. My employers is a big supporter of the local United Way agency, which means all of our employees are encouraged to contribute during their annual campaign. I argued with the United Way about their support of the local Boy Scout program in the wake of the flap over homosexual leaders. While claiming to continue support for the local Boy Scouts, the United Way's own budget clearly showed reduced support for the program.
Since the United Way could not sufficiently answer my questions, I pulled my support and sent a donation directly to the Boy Scouts.
Yet, the level of the United Way funding or federal grants cannot excuse any sort of fraudulent activity by a handful of central office staff. The Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council must act swiftly to remedy this problem, firing anyone found to have committed fraud.
Although I outgrew the Boy Scouts decades ago, I wonder if I am still listed as a member.
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